Any Harbeth C7ES3 users in the North Birmingham (ish) area?

[fryingtonite]

Guys,

I was wondering how to get to hear these highly-regarded speakers; I rang the Midlands (Derby) dealer who, it turns out, is a mail order dealer only. However once I'd heard them if I wanted some he would be only too happy to sell them to me.

Doh!

I am aware of distnace selling regulations and the 7 day cooling off period, but don't want to inconvenience a dealer by buying blind with a good chance of sending them back, it just doesn't seem sporting.

The only other thing is if there is a welcoming wammer/Harbeth owner in the area who would be amenable for a visit please? My postcode is B75.

You don't ask you don't get!

Tim

[radiant red]

That dealer (and I know who it is!) shouldn't be a Harbeth dealer as he stocks nothing! Do your self a favour and visit the one in Cambridgeshire (check the Harbeth dealer network) and go and spend some quality time listening. It will be worth it!

[andreweast]

Oooh, ARC cd5, nice ... the first time I heard Harbeths was at KJW1 and they were using that player. I was hooked.
I'm afraid I'm not near Birmingham, but you would be welcome to hear mine in London. Mind you, if you came to the smoke you could hear them with ARC equipment at KJ, since I believe they have finally reopened now.

[fryingtonite]

Cheers!

I guess Harbeth have no ambition to challenge the world - the dealer network is 'challenging'.

Tim

[andreweast]

Many have complained that they are more concerned with their sales in the Far East than in the UK. It certainly is bizarre for a company with that international profile to have no dealer in a city the size of Birmingham.

I'm lucky that my two centres are Leeds and London, so I'm spoiled with Audio Republic and KJW1, but anyone remotely to the west seems to be out of luck.

[fryingtonite]

Out of interest, what amp do you remember being used when you heard the ARC/Harbeth setup?

cheers

Tim

[Midlandaudiox]

As far as i know music matter were selling Harbeth in Birmingham area
however i did approach them a couple of years ago and was told that they were not looking for anymore dealers
as they couldnt build them quickly enough.....

[fryingtonite]

Hmm,

Music Matters aren't listed as a dealer on the Harbeth web site and they don't list Harbeth on their web site. I did use the Solihull branch a bit 3-4 years ago and never saw Harbeth in there.

A sole mail order supplier in the Midlands with no demo facilities is definitely selling them short. Sounds like they are comfy where they are though.

[Pac67]

As far as i know music matter were selling Harbeth in Birmingham area
however i did approach them a couple of years ago and was told that they were not looking for anymore dealers
as they couldnt build them quickly enough.....

I think that's correct. Many of the Harbeth models are built to order with dealer stock as far as I'm aware being mainly demo units only for some models in the range. They do sell to the far east but remember that a big part of Harbeth's business is in supplying the BBC with broadcast and studio monitors. They don't build 'em cheap and stack 'em high. Radletts Audio in safron Waldon (run by Dave Wren) I believe have the full range for demo and Dave's a top bloke to deal with.

[deggie]

most harbies are built to order, if you know what you want , the darby,repton agent is a decent chap to deal with, i had my fives through him

no probs , excellent to deal with, good on price, pity as i sold mine last xmas, otherwise you would have been welcome to listen,

the fives are my favourits, warmer with more depth, superb speek,......a rare beast on the second hand market.

[Lee Henley]

Tim

Alan B used to have the 7's, for me they were an easy listen but for some reason did not do it. Drop AlanB a PM for his thoughts Im sure he would be helpful, he no longer has them as he has gone back to Vandersteens which is in another league to Harbeths IMO

I went down the Harbeth route myself a couple of years back, even went to KJ West 1 and heard the PS3ER's and the SHL5's, a friend of mine also brought his PS3ER's to our house for a home demo all the way from South Wales, anyway here is my take

PS3ER's - aweful, total waste of time both at the dealers and at my house - FWIW, my mate who brought them no longer uses them after he brought them to my house and sold them to a guy on here.

SHL5 - Great, however the physical presence of them was too big for our front room, the difference between the 3's and the SHL5's was night and day

All of these are my own experiences and others on here may have different views!

Having visited your house in the past and given the size of your room Vandersteens might do the trick

Lee

- - - Updated - - -

Hmm,

Music Matters aren't listed as a dealer on the Harbeth web site and they don't list Harbeth on their web site. I did use the Solihull branch a bit 3-4 years ago and never saw Harbeth in there.

A sole mail order supplier in the Midlands with no demo facilities is definitely selling them short. Sounds like they are comfy where they are though.

Music matters used to sell them in Edgbaston but no longer sell them

[fryingtonite]

Hi Lee,

Yes, I recall you were less than impressed with the little 'uns - I remember the exact phrase you used :-). I can well believe a sealed speaker the size of the P3s wouldn't do well in a room your size.

I was thinking the C7s sit in between the SHL5s and the P3s. I did do a bit of wam trawling and came across Alan's review and I know he moved on.

If Harbeths are hard to audition at home I dread to think how difficult it would be to get Vandersteens here. And they are odd looking, even if I was being kind!

(Sorry Alan!).

Tim

[deggie]

tim , if i recall guildford audio, trevor i think, might pay to have a chat, he is very accomadating, he might, just might sort

a demo pair on loan for you to try, depending on your room size the fives are great, the sevens are a more cleaner sound.

keith.

[andreweast]

Out of interest, what amp do you remember being used when you heard the ARC/Harbeth setup?

You might be surprised to hear that it was a Krell integrated - the S300i. Most Harbethians on this forum tend towards valves, but Harbeths need power and top to bottom neutrality in an amp as well. The difficulty is getting the power and extension of an SS amp along with the midrange magic of valves. Too many Harbeth users have gone for low powered valves and then come to the wrong conclusions about the speakers before trying anything else. I've heard Harbeths go well with various valve, SS, and hybrid amps, so long as they aren't too low powered. My original impression of the ARC Cd5/Krell S300i system was with Monitor 30's and SHL5's, and I posted my impressions here;
http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=89117
I've since heard many different combinations which shine in different areas. What the KJW1 system did superbly well was the extension and power necessary to reproduce a piano with an orchestra. But I've heard amps that have much better tonal colour and luxury in the mids - Croft for example. My Unico hybrids are a good balance between different approaches, but I'm also experimenting with some Albarry's at the moment. I expect your ARC set up would be great with Harbeths.

[whitehart]

Speaking as a SHL5 owner and having heard the C7's, the latter were dull and lifeless in comparison.
Definitely give Trevor from Guildford Audio a bell... good guy to deal with and he will always be willing to do part ex on existing gear.
Mac

[andreweast]

7's aren't dull and lifeless. Did you hear them in the same set up as your own?

[Tarzan]

7's aren't dull and lifeless. Did you hear them in the same set up as your own?

X2- my all be it C7ES rock- it is all to do with matching the amp- my T-amp puts out 22wpc- goes lous is full 3D and very dynamic.

[Ian]

PS3ER's - aweful, total waste of time both at the dealers and at my house - FWIW, my mate who brought them no longer uses them after he brought them to my house and sold them to a guy on here.

Conversely, I'll disagree with this ! Quite a lot

[Pac67]

Conversely, I'll disagree with this ! Quite a lot

+1

From the Harbeth's I've heard there was little real difference in their "voicing" except that the bigger you go with the models, the greater the scale and extension. I was expecting the little stand mounters to image better than the big ones as IME most good little stand mounters are pretty good at doing the disappearing trick, but I was surprised to find that the bigger ones do it equally as well! The Harbeths do all have a "house" sound and it's no real coincidence since their polypropylene driver mid/bass designs and cabinet designs follow similar principles. The exception is possibly the M40.1 which was designed I think as a full range Studio monitor rather than a broadcast monitor, and it has a beefier presentation and unlike most of the others in the range, needs a big room. The only oddity in the range is the SHL5 uses a super tweeter for no better reason that a customer wanted one, and the idea stuck! I don't think there's a specific technical reason for it. I must admit that I'm delighted with my SHL5's and my only regret is in not rediscovering the Harbeth range sooner. They do respond very well to powerful amplification and aren't really a SET amp match. The Croft amps do seem to partner very well with them.

[andreweast]

Paul, the drivers aren't Polypropylene. Alan Shaw has always been very insistent that the material he developed - RADIAL - is much more articulate and detailed than Pp, which he believes causes smearing of transients.

I think the combination of the super-tweeter and larger cabinet in the SHL5 does make for much greater soundstage, and the SHL5 is also richer in the lower mids/upper bass. I couldn't get them to work in my room, but they remain my favourites.